The present invention relates to a package for pill-type medicaments which is child resistant and wherein the pill package is locked in the package for one-time use and in that fashion is not accessible to unauthorized removal of pills by, for example, children.
Rotary pilled dispensing package of the type to which the present invention relates are not new per se. They typically comprise a housing for a so-called blister pill pack and means for advancing pills one at a time to a discharge position in the housing.
The present invention is an improvement over the prior art which is characterized by novel features of construction and arrangement including a relatively simplified housing which is easy and economical to manufacture and a novel child resistant means aimed at preventing children below a certain age from manipulating the device to discharge the pill medicaments. To this end the pill package assembly comprises a generally circular saucer like top and a complementary base which are easy and economical to mold out of conventional plastic materials and are provided with means for snap fitting the top to the base, and an annular blister pack ring for the pill medicaments. The assembly also includes a dial which in the preferred embodiment is of stepped configuration having a lower portion with series of axially extending teeth around its periphery and a top portion of smaller diameter or cross section. The dial projects upwardly through an opening in the top. The periphery of the opening is formed with a series of circumferentially spaced teeth which mesh with the teeth in the lower portion of the dial. The dial is mounted on an annular platform having a series of pegs which engage and locate an annular ring like blister pack on the platform surrounding the dial.
Accordingly, the dial can be rotated to selectively present individual pills in the annular array at a discharge station where one pill at a time may be dispensed by the user. Spring fingers on the base of the platform normally bias the dial to an upper position wherein a circular array of teeth in the opening in the top of the housing mesh with the dial teeth thereby preventing rotation of the dial and in this manner provide a means for preventing children from tampering with the package assembly and rotating the dial to facilitate discharging the contents of the pill package. When an adult user wishes to rotate the pill pack to present a pill at the discharge station, the dial is pressed inwardly against the bias of the spring fingers so that the top housing teeth are now displaced to a position where they confront the upper portion of the dial. In this position, the dial can be freely rotated since the upper portion of the dial is of a diamter smaller than a circular trace through the tips of the top housing teeth. Of course, when the axially applied pressure on the dial is released, the dial springs upwardly to its normal position wherein the teeth in the top are intermeshed with the teeth in the lower portion of the dial and the child resistant feature is operative.